Titan arum is a flowering plant known for the large size of its blooms. What may look like a giant blossom is actually a cluster of flowers along a single spike, part of an arrangement called an unbranched inflorescence. The titan arum has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The inflorescence can reach more than 10 feet (3 meters) long. The plant is native to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
The titan arum gives off a foul odor. This odor attracts insects that ordinarily feed on rotting flesh, animal waste, or similar material. These insects help to pollinate the plant’s flowers. Because of its odor, the titan arum is sometimes called a carrion flower, corpse flower, or corpse plant.
The titan arum grows from a bulblike underground stem called a corm. The corm can weigh more than 200 pounds (90 kilograms). The corm does not produce an inflorescence for the first several years of its life. Rather, it alternates between lying dormant (inactive) and producing a single large leaf. This leaf resembles a small tree. It can reach 20 feet (6 meters) tall and 15 feet (4.5 meters) wide. The leaf makes food using the energy in sunlight. Much of this food energy is stored in the corm for later use. The leaf grows for many months before dying back down.
Eventually, the titan arum is ready to flower. At this time, the plant grows an inflorescence instead of a leaf. The inflorescence includes a large structure called the spathe, which encloses the plant. After the inflorescence develops, the spathe unfolds and opens, forming a skirt around the base of the plant. The spathe is purple-red and ribbed on the inside. It is green-yellow on the outside. A large stalk called the spadix rises from the open spathe. Pink to red female flowers ring the bottom of the spadix. Yellowish-white male flowers grow just above the female flowers.
The inflorescence usually remains open for only a few days. During this time, the plant produces its characteristic odor to attract pollinators. Then the spadix slowly collapses, and the spathe falls off. If pollinated, female flowers develop into fleshy, scarlet fruit. Hornbills and other birds eat this fruit, spreading the seeds.
After it blooms, the titan arum returns to its cycle of lying dormant and leaf growing. It will bloom again several years later, repeating the cycle.
People have cultivated the titan arum since the 1800’s. Today, many botanic gardens around the world grow the plant. Decades sometimes pass between blooms. But when such a bloom does occur at a botanic garden, crowds of visitors may flock to see and smell the plant.
